A method of forming a semiconductor device including the steps of forming an electrically programmable fuse (e-fuse) on an isolation region and a transistor on an active region of a wafer, wherein forming the transistor includes forming a dummy gate above a substrate, removing the dummy gate and forming a metal gate in place of the dummy gate, and forming the e-fuse includes forming a metal-containing layer above the isolation region, forming a semiconductor layer on the metal-containing layer during the process of forming the dummy gate and of the same material as the dummy gate, forming a hard mask layer on the semiconductor layer formed on the metal-containing layer, and forming contact openings in the hard mask layer and semiconductor layer during the process of removing the dummy gate.